by Sandi Lynn
“No.” She laughed. “Grandpa said you were the first time he took you.”
“I was a little bit, but it was a lot of fun.”
“Where’s Alex? I want to talk to her.”
“She’s taking a shower, baby girl.”
“But I wanted to say hi,” she whined.
“I can tell her for you when she gets out.”
“Okay. I have to go, Daddy. Grandpa wants to go for a walk.”
“Alright. Have fun today. I can’t wait for you to come home. I miss my baby girl.”
“I miss you too, Dad. And I miss Alex. I love you. Bye.”
“I love you too, sweet pea.”
I got up from my chair and went back into the house. As I was rinsing out my cup, Alex walked into the kitchen.
“I just got off Facetime with Lily. She wanted to say hi, but you were in the shower.”
“I’m sorry I missed her. I hope she’s having a good time.”
“She is.”
“Good.” The corners of her mouth curved upward as she looked at me. “You know, I kept meaning to ask you. Do you play the guitar?”
“I do. So do my brothers. Why?”
“I noticed it in the closet, and I was wondering if I could play it sometime?”
“You play?” I asked with surprise.
“Yeah. Well, I haven’t in a long time. My mom used to play, and she taught me. My dad had bought her a new guitar for her birthday and when she passed away, my father gave it to me.”
“What happened to it?”
“I had to sell it for money about a year after I left home. The one job I was working closed their doors suddenly and didn’t pay their employees.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I needed it for rent. It was either sell it or live in my car.”
“You can play it anytime you want.”
“Thanks.” The corners of her mouth curved up into a beautiful smile.
“You said you were going to do some exploring today?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me take you to the Santa Monica Pier, and then we can grab some tacos from a taco truck. They’re the best.”
“They are?” She laughed.
“So. Freaking. Good.” I grinned.
“Okay. I’m in.”
“Just one thing first. You’ll have to come with me to the tuxedo shop. I’m meeting my brothers to get fitted for our tuxes for Sam’s wedding. It won’t take long, and then we can head to the pier from there.”
“Alright. When are we leaving?”
“In about twenty minutes.” I glanced at my watch.
Chapter 19
Alex
“Hey, Alex.” Sebastian smiled as Stefan and I walked into the shop.
“Hi, guys.” I gave a small wave to all three of them.
“Let me go first,” Stefan spoke. “We’re heading to the Santa Monica Pier.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know why we’re here,” Simon said. “We’ve been fitted so many times and our measurements never change. Well, maybe mine has cause I’m more muscular than you douchebags.” He grinned.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Stefan rolled his eyes. “Mr. tough detective over here.” He playfully punched Simon’s arm.
“Julia and I were thinking about having a bonfire later tonight. Anyone up for it?”
“Count me in, bro,” Sebastian spoke. “I’m off tonight.”
“Me too,” Simon said.
“I’m in.” Stefan looked over at me. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Great. I’ll let Julia know when I get home. We’ll just order pizza and subs. Did you get that, Sebastian?”
“What? You want the restaurant to cater your bonfire?”
“Duh.” Sam grinned.
“I’ll call Marco.” He pulled out his phone and stepped over to the side.
After Stefan was measured, we said goodbye to the guys and headed to the Santa Monica Pier.
“I didn’t know they had an amusement park here.”
“Yeah. Lily loves coming here. Want to go play some games?”
“I haven’t played a carnival game since I was a kid.” I grinned.
“What? You are totally missing out on the fun. Come on. My treat.” He gave me a sexy wink. “And just so you know, I don’t ever lose.”
“Ha. We’ll see about that.”
We took the only two seats left at one of the water games. I was winning until Stefan lightly bumped my shoulder and took the win.
“Oh my God! You cheated!” I laughed.
“Who me? I don’t cheat. Pick what you want.” He grinned.
I picked the medium size Hello Kitty. After the worker who worked the game handed it to me, I hugged it tight.
“It’s so soft.” I smiled. “Here, feel.” I tried to hand it to him.
“I’ll take your word for it because there’s no way I’m going to hug a Hello Kitty in public.”
“Cheater!”
“Sore loser.” He winked.
We walked around and checked out the sights. After we walked out of one of the shops, I headed towards the railing to look out at the water.
“I like this place.” I glanced over at Stefan as he stood next to me.
“Yeah. Me too. I practically grew up here. My brothers and I would always come here and try to pick up chicks when were teenagers. I can’t believe I now bring my daughter here.”
“It must be pretty surreal.”
“It is.” The corners of his mouth curved upward. “Tell me something. What were your dreams as a kid?”
“That prince charming would ride up to my house on his white horse and take me away from my life.”
“Seriously?” His eyes stared into mine.
“Yeah. Seriously.” I broke our eye contact and stared at the water. “I always had the fantasy that someone would rescue me. Someone who was the perfect man, my person, and my knight in shining armor. I was a kid. Don’t all little girls fantasize about that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I hope Lily doesn’t.”
“Why?” I laughed.
“Because she’s never allowed to leave me.” The corners of his mouth curved upward.
“Oh. Okay, big daddy. She’s going to grow up and leave for college. Then what?”
“She’ll go somewhere close.”
“What about when she meets her person, and you aren’t the love of her life anymore?”
“Never! I will always be the love of her life.” He gave me a wink. “I’m starving. Are you ready to go grab some tacos?”
“Sure.” I smiled.
Stefan pulled out his phone and checked to see if any taco trucks were nearby.
“Bingo! There’s one within walking distance from here.”
“Let’s go.” I held onto my Hello Kitty.
After ordering our tacos, we took a seat at an empty picnic table nestled between two trees.
“Prepare yourself. These are the best tacos you’ll ever have,” he said.
“Better than what Sebastian makes?” My brow arched.
“He can make a decent taco, but these right here—damn.” He took a bite.
I picked up my taco and bit into it.
“Wow. Yeah. Okay. These are amazing.”
“Told you. I dare you to tell Sebastian that tonight.” He grinned.
“No way.” I laughed. “That’s rude to tell a chef.”
“Who cares. He’s my brother. We can be rude to him.” He let out a chuckle. “So, tell me what jobs you did along your travels.”
“Let’s see. I was a barista, a waitress, a bartender, a retail clerk, and I did housekeep at a fancy hotel.”
“Ugh. How could you do that? Changing the sheets on the daily knowing what was on them from the night before.”
“It was a job. I tried not to think about it. You wouldn’t believe what I saw. I don’t want to gross you out.”
“And I’m going to think twice
about ever staying at a hotel again. Thanks for that.” He pointed at me.
“Speaking of cleaning, is Sam a clean freak?”
Stefan let out a chuckle. “How could you tell? He’s a little over the top. He’s always been like that. He’s trying to train Julia in his ways, but she’s not having it. He thinks he’s changing her, but she loves to play with him. One time, they got into this huge fight, and she quit to open the coffee shop. It’s a long story, so I’ll give you the shortened version. Her car broke down one day and he was driving by and saw her, so he pulled over. Now mind you, she hated him and refused to talk to him at that point. Anyway, he drove her to the shop to get her phone and before taking her home, he stopped at his house to change because he was meeting us at the restaurant for dinner. While Julia was there, she messed with his things while he was upstairs.”
“Oh my God.” I laughed. “I love her.”
“Right?” He grinned. Anyway, whenever Lily doesn’t clean up her mess, I always threaten to call Sam over.”
“Does it work?” I asked.
“Sometimes.”
“You’re not messy. At least not from what I’ve noticed.”
“Nah, I like a clean space. I’m not over the top OCD like Sam though.”
“Sam and Julia are an adorable couple. Total relationship goals.”
“Yeah. They’re cute together. In all your years and travels, you never found your prince charming?”
“No. I gave up on that dream a long time ago. Guys like Prince Charming don’t exist.”
“Then I take it you were never serious with anyone?” he asked as he took the last bite of his taco.
“Not really. I’ve dated here and there, but as soon as he starts to get serious, I take off.”
“Why?” His brows furrowed.
“I’d spent my life in a box after my mother died. A box that contained me, my father and his alcohol.”
“How do you mean?”
“My circumstances. Isolated and lonely. I could see the sky, but it was always out of reach and there was no way of me reaching it. I was a kid who wanted to play like a child, but never could because I was too busy playing an adult. I could never have any friends over because of him. One time, I decided to say fuck it and invite one of my friends over. My dad made a complete ass of himself and embarrassed the hell out of me when he came home drunk. I remember after she left going to my room and crying all night while he laid passed out on the couch. I never invited anyone over after that.”
“Not even boyfriends?”
“No. I only had one when I was a teenager. He knew he was an alcoholic and he feared him, so he never asked to come over. I became known as John Clark’s poor daughter. That’s how people referred to me, and after a while, that’s the only person I knew. I didn’t choose that life. It was chosen for me. And as soon as I could, I got the hell out.”
“Were you scared when you first left?”
“Yeah.” I gave him a small smile. “But I didn’t have time to worry about my fears, because I knew if I didn’t leave that day, I wasn’t sure when I would. Things that don’t change, die, and I wasn’t about to die in that place.”
“Why move from place to place so much? I would have thought after seven years, you would have found a permanent place.”
“I haven’t been comfortable in so long that when things start to feel comfortable wherever I’m at, I get scared. So, I move on. Wow. I never said that out loud to anyone before.” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“Maybe if you talk about it more, feeling comfortable in one place won’t scare you so much.”
“Maybe. Who knows.” I turned my head and stared out at the water in the distance.
He reached his hand across the table and placed it on mine.
“Just so you know, I’ll listen anytime you want to talk.”
“Thanks, Stefan.”
“You’re welcome.” A small smile crossed his lips. “We should probably head back to the house.”
We gathered up our garbage and walked back to the car.
Chapter 20
Stefan
Listening to her dream of finding her prince charming was hard to hear, and I prayed to God she wasn’t looking at me to be him. I had too many issues as far as relationships were concerned and being someone’s prince charming wasn’t in my life plan. I liked Alex. She was gorgeous, sexy, funny, sweet, and she took care of my daughter as if she was born to be a mother. But I couldn’t risk anything with anyone because of Lily. I’d seen the damage and the destruction failed relationships caused us growing up, and I wouldn’t put my daughter through that. Besides, I wasn’t about to break our pact like Sam did.
When we arrived home, I poured myself a scotch and took it over to the couch while Alex went to her room and changed. Looking at my hand, the swelling had gone down, but it still hurt like a bitch.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked as she walked into the room.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” A small smile crossed my lips. “We should head over to Sam’s.”
I stood up from the couch, walked over to the closet and grabbed my guitar.
“You’re bringing your guitar?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” I grinned. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to play because of my hand, but you will. Can you sing too?”
She looked down in embarrassment.
“Well?” I asked.
“I’ve been told I can carry a tune.”
“Good. Then you can entertain us tonight.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“So, then you’re lying about knowing how to play the guitar?”
“No. I’m not lying.”
“Then what’s the big deal? It’s us. We all sit around, play and sing. It’s fun. And now that you’re a part of our group, you have to do it. It’s a requirement.”
“Does Julia?”
“Well, no. She doesn’t know how to play the guitar. As for singing, she’s not bad. Come on. Let’s head over and get the party started.”
I walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a six pack of beer and we headed out the door. When we stepped inside Sam’s house, Alex went to help Julia in the kitchen while I went out on the patio where Simon and Sam were standing.
“How was your day at the pier?” Simon asked.
“It was fun.” I brought the bottle of beer up to my lips. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“He’s on his way from the restaurant,” Sam said. “Did you and Alex have a talk?”
“We did, and it’s cool. She said she doesn’t see me any different than the first night she met me.”
Simon let out a laugh. “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I was there, remember? I saw the way she looked at you with such hate and anger.”
“She said I redeemed myself when I let her stay at the house, douchebag.” I playfully punched his arm with my bad hand. “Shit!” I shook it.
“That’s what you get for punching me, douchebag.”
“I made the mistake of asking Alex today what her dreams were as a kid.”
“And?” Sam asked.
“She told me she always dreamt that Prince Charming would ride up on his white horse and take her away from her life. She said she always had a fantasy that someone would rescue her. The perfect man, her person, and her knight in shining armor.”
“Wow. That’s deep,” Simon said. “Considering she lived with an alcoholic father most of her life, I really don’t blame her for wanting that.”
Sebastian showed up with the food and we all sat down around the table and ate. I stared at Alex as she and Julia talked and laughed at the other end. There was an instant friendship there, and that made me happy.
After we finished eating, we took our beers outside and sat around the firepit. The air was quite chilly, and the warmth of the fire felt good.
“Alex told me today that she plays the guitar.” I grinned.
“Whoa. Do you really?” Sebastian asked as he glanced over at he
r.
“A little bit.” A shy smile crossed her lips.
“Hand her your guitar, bro, and let’s have a listen,” Sam said.
I reached over, took my guitar out of the case and handed it to her.
“Listen, guys, I really don’t—”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “You have no choice. Your first mistake was telling me you could play. Your second mistake was telling me you can sing.”
“You can sing?” Julia asked.
“Not really.”
“I think you’re trying to pull one over on us,” Simon said. “You show us what you’ve got, and we’ll show you what we can do.”
“Fine.” She sighed as she set the guitar on her lap. “What do you want to hear?”
“Anything you can play.” I smiled.
She started to strum the chords to a familiar tune.
“Yes! Coldplay!” Sebastian shouted.
She started to sing the lyrics to Yellow, and I nearly lost my breath. Simon and Sam, who were sitting across from me, stared at me with widened eyes. Her voice was pure magic, haunting, and incredibly beautiful. She strummed the last chord and we all sat there in silence staring at her.
“Damn,” Sebastian said.
“That was beautiful.” Julia wiped her eyes. “You need to play at the coffee shop. No, you have to play at the coffee shop.”
“What?” Alex asked as I wouldn’t stop staring at her.
“You’ve been told you could sing? Really, Alex? Damn, you’re way too modest. You put us to shame.”
“Stop it.” She laughed. “I want to hear you.”
“I’m afraid I can’t play with this hand. But, as soon as it feels better, I’ll play something for you.” I gave her a wink. “Anyone up for another beer?” I asked as I stood up.
I walked into the house and Sam followed behind me. Opening the refrigerator, I grabbed the beers and handed a couple bottles to him.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked. “She had Julia in tears.”
“Yeah, bro. Trust me. I know. I’m just as blown away. I didn’t expect that at all.”
“She could be a professional. I think she really missed her calling,” he said.
“I agree with you one hundred percent.”
